A fabric that never fades
by misswhiteblack
Summary: Olly was always the one who turned to find trouble looming at her back ... JamesOlly, for Vicky.


_For Vicky because she adores JamesOlly and because I love her._

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><p><strong>A fabric that never fades<br>**JamesOlly

If you need me call me  
>no matter where you are, no matter how far<br>_- Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Diana Ross_

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Olly attracts trouble. This is a fact, a fact that James has always known because whilst he and Fred had the ability to create trouble and Sage had the job of keeping them out of trouble Olly was always the one who turned round to find trouble looming at her back. Along with this was Olly's ability to keep things a secret. If someone had a secret that they needed to talk about but didn't want it spread around then they'd talk to Olly because she's just the kind of person that can know something and then never repeat it again. Hence the reason that he doesn't always know that trouble has found her. She is also a master of her face and her ability to fake surprise is incredible. James is certain that he will never know exactly what is going on in her head. Her ability to compartmentalise is sometimes astounding.

The thing is he's been her best friend since he was born, along with his cousin Fred and Sage Longbottom and they all know each other so well they can finish each other's sentences, know what each other is thinking at any chosen moment. James is well aware that his male cousins and certain friends think he hit the jackpot when he finally got it together with Olly and he has to admit that he didn't think he could be any happier than he is with her. He knows her and she knows him and there is nothing in their pasts waiting to jump up to slap them in the face because they know all the skeletons in each other's closets.

They moved in together after leaving Hogwarts and whilst he was signed up by Puddlemere United Olly decided, in direct conflict with his feelings on the matter, to become an Auror. It's a job she relishes and he can see that in her face every time she comes home with another case closed and she works for his father so he knows that she isn't put in harm's way too much. He had been very afraid that she'd end up like her mother who is one of the Ministry's top Aurors but she is also reckless when she's in pursuit of a case, dangerously so. Olly's always had that streak and it terrifies James to think that she might be rash especially since she's an act-now-ask-questions-later type of girl.

His godbrother, Teddy, becomes Olly's partner and that is something else he is grateful for because if anyone can keep Olly in check it's Teddy. As she excels through the ranks, becoming as well known as her mother before her, James gets taken out of reserves, taking his place of the Puddlemere United first team, sending his public exposure through the roof. He can handle it though. He's Harry Potter's son so he's well used to cameras flashing and reports in the newspapers which are wildly exaggerate or completely untrue. He thanks his good fortunes for Olly who treats reporters with wide scepticism and never believes anything that they write about him hooking up with this girl or that. It seems from one day to the next he's linked with someone else.

You see he and Olly have always downplayed their relationship, trying to keep it out of the papers because he's grown up seeing what reporters write about his parents or his aunt and uncle's marriages, like the rumours that Ron and Hermione were on the brink of divorce which is of course nonsense. Due to this, they had decided to keep it on the low that they were even together, which was difficult but with Olly's love of the muggle world they tend to spend a lot of time out of sight of Wizarding reporters.

She attends all his games that she can with Fred and Sage, the three of them yelling themselves hoarse whenever he scores and sometimes he finds it hard not to show off for her. He can see the looks on the faces of his family when he does show off and they just know that he's doing it for her, just so he can see the way her face lights up when she laughs, clapping her hands together and her black hair flying over her shoulder like she hasn't a care in the world. He'll do anything to see that look on her face.

She hasn't turned up to this game though and as James kicks his broom into the air he's nothing if not disappointed. He can see Fred and Sage in the stands on either side of Roxy all waving their arms in the air like loonies and probably chanting his name even though he cannot hear them. It makes him grin. Olly had said that she was busy with a case but that she would try to drag Teddy along with her. He couldn't exactly be mad at her.

"Ready Potter," shouts Bubb the other beater before the game was about to begin. They were playing the Chudley Canons and James can see his Uncle Ron and his cousin Hugo sitting on the opposite side of the stands from his friends with grim determination of their faces and Canon jumpers on. It makes James laugh; the Canons didn't stand a chance in hell.

"All right everyone," calls the referee, Standson. "I want I nice clean game please."

He blows his whistle and they're off.

James had been right, the game was a massacre from the beginning but about three quarters of the way through the match he was distracted by something that made his heart stop.

He'd just smacked a bludger away from Whittle when he spots the small figure in the middle of the Quidditch pitch, standing on the grass and waving his arms above his head. Even from his height James can make out the turquoise hair of his godbrother Teddy Lupin.

He can hear Standson blowing his whistles as he plummets towards the ground, just dying to get to Teddy because if he was here he didn't want to even think what that meant. He hits the ground beside him, dropping his bat and almost falling off his broom. He doesn't care that the crowd is on their feet, or that Monahan just got hit by a bludger or that there were flashes going off all around them. He just stares at Teddy and his eyes tell him everything.

"Where is she?" he manages to choke out.

"St. Mungo's. You'd better come."

Out of the corner of his eye James can see people racing towards him but they're not the people he needs to get. He turns to scan the stands and finds the faces of Fred, Sage and Roxy looking down at them.

"I'll get them," Teddy assures him. "You just go."

Feeling sickness welling in him James doesn't even bother to let his teammates know what is going on, he just turns on the spot and apparates.

St. Mungo's is busy when he arrives, there's a queue at the reception as he trudges up to it, his heart heavy. He can hear the whispers around "isn't that James Potter?", "I wonder what he's doing here", "No Jason don't stare", "Which Weasley's in St. Mungo's now?". He ignores them all moving to speak to the pretty blonde receptionist who instantly recognises him.

"Can I help you Mr Potter?" she asks, flashing her white teeth and practically sparkling at him.

"Olivia Black, pl –please," he chokes and waits, waits for the news to hit him, waits to find out that something really terrible has happened, something that he can't save her from.

The expression of the receptionists face falters as she looks back at the papers in front of her. James doesn't care, he doesn't care about the whispers behind him or the fact that a camera is flashing somewhere to the left of him, all he wants is the bloody woman to tell him about Olly.

"Miss Black on the Fourth Floor, Ward 40," the receptionist tells him in nothing more than a courteous tone.

James turns, knowing what the fourth floor is: Spell Damage. He makes his way to the lift wondering what on earth he was going to do if the Healers told him the worst had happened. He had always worried about Olly becoming at Auror but she did love it so much, just like he loved Quidditch. He had thought that maybe, just maybe she would join a Quidditch team too because she loved to play and she was an excellent chaser.

The lift shudders to a stop on floor four and James practically trips as he gets off. There aren't many people in the corridors but those that are stare at him without any embarrassment about doing so. James ignores them; he's perfectly used to people staring at him by now. He can see a Healer ahead of him and he moves up towards, feeling like a ghost, like he's disconnected from the world. He wonders briefly if he should be moving faster but for some reason his legs won't do as his brain commands.

"Mr Potter?" the Healer says in surprise when she sees him. "Can I help you?"

"Olivia Black," he says in almost a whisper struggling to deal with all the thoughts and fears in his head.

The Healer smiles.

"Miss Black is recovering well," she tells him glad to be the one to give him the good news. "She suffered quite a bit from that spell she was hit with so I hope your father catches the bastards that did it. She's probably going to be left with a little bit of _unusual_ scaring but unfortunately there is anything we can do about that."

James huffs a sigh of relief, instantly feeling better but just wanting to get in to see her.

"What do you mean unusual scaring?" he interrupts the Healer out of genuine curiosity. It won't matter to him if Olly was covered in scars but unusual scaring wasn't something a healer often said as magical injuries varied so much.

"The curse that hit her developed along her ribcage on the left side," the healer explains patiently. "We've managed to reduce it quite some bit but there is still significant spread. Now it won't cause her anymore damage but there is a lot of black staining along that side and with her pale skin it is noticeable."

"Oh," was all James could think to say. He knew it didn't matter to him but he wondered what Olly might think of having black staining for the rest of her life.

"The good news is though that we managed to save the baby," the Healer tells him brightly, 2although it was a bit touch and go there. We did think that she was going to lose it …"

It takes James a few moments to catch up.

"The baby," he repeats. "What baby?"

The Healer looks taken aback.

"She's pregnant. Didn't you know?"

James shakes his head in shock. Olly was pregnant. Olly had nearly lost their baby. Oh god, he was going to be a father! They weren't even married yet and they were going to be a family.

"I expect you'd like to see her," the Healer provides kindly.

"Is she awake?" he asks.

"Yes."

The Healer shows him into Ward 40. James doesn't notice the other patients in the beds as the Healer leads him down to the last bed on the right with the curtains closed around it. The Healer opens the curtain a little and then slips in. James waits a moment, taking a deep breath before he follows the Healer in.

"You've got a visitor," the Healer is telling Olly as he appears at the end of her bed and he could almost cry when Olly's sees him, her dark blue eyes lighting up and her face cracking into a smile. Her black hair is loose around her head and she's got a thick pink paste smeared around one eye and part of her jawbone which James knew was healing bruises that he could just make out through the paste. He lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. She was still Olly and she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"James," she breathes.

As the Healer left James sidled up the side of Olly's bed to perch on it and take her hand.

"Hi baby," he says gently as Olly's smiles at him from where she is leaning against the pillows.

"I think I might have over done it this time, James," she tells him with a small smile.

"I think you might have," he agrees squeezing her hand just lightly. "Tell me all the injuries."

"Well, I had a broken collar bone, a broken ankle, two dislocated fingers on my left hand and I lost a bit of blood due to a gash on my thigh. I think the curse was the worse bit. I've never heard the spell before but it made me black out. Do you want to see the scaring?"

"Sure," he says all the time wondering how he's going to manage to bring up the fact that she's pregnant.

He gets off the bed and allows Olly to pull the covers down and then pull her gown up. He leans over to have a look at the left side of her chest. The black staining looked like creepy thin little fingers that seemed to tickle the curve of her breast before extending down to the end of her ribcage. James bites his lip determined not to get angry in front of her because it'll only upset her but, Merlin, if he doesn't want to go after however did this himself.

"Apparently it was a lot worse," she tells him as he stand back and she pulls her gown back in place. "The Healer says that the staining should fade a little with time but they don't know how much."

"It'll be fine," James reassures her tucking her bed covers back into place and perching on the side of the bed again so he can take her hand. "I believe you have something to tell me."

He's amused to see that Olly looks bashful, almost shy in the way she looks at him. He's been her best friend for their entire lives and he's never seen her look this way before. It makes him smile at her involuntarily.

"I'm sure the Healer told you," she says, "but James we're going to have a baby."

She looks so eagerly at him that James can't help but feel his anger at not being told dissipate. He gives her the exact reaction he's sure she's looking for. He leans forward to envelope her in a cuddle, trying to be careful of her left side because he doesn't know if it's still painful.

"That's amazing news," he tells her, resting one hand on her tummy and just amazed to think that his child was growing there inside of her. "I suppose we'd better get married then."

"We don't have to get married," Olly protests. "We can wait until after the baby's born."

"Olly, we've been engaged forever," James tells her gently. "We might as well do it. I know I'm not looking for anything or anyone else but you. So unless you're thinking of leaving me we might as well just do it."

She smiles at that and James is glad to make her happy.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere either," she tells him placing her hand over the hand resting on her stomach. "James, you're going to be daddy."

His faces splits into a smile, bigger than any he's ever given before and it's feels so right that he wants to jump for joy and bounce around. He can't though because he wants Olly to rest up.

"Well, no more dangerous Auror stuff," he tells her in mock sternness. "You're to sit behind a desk and look after our baby okay?"

She shakes her head defiantly in an almost childlike way that makes him want to tickle her mercilessly but he doesn't. He just leans forward to push a lock of her ink black hair behind her ear and away from the horrible smelling paste on her face.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," she says suddenly, "about the baby, I mean. I just wanted to be sure you were ready because there is no way that this is staying out of the news, I'm afraid. The entire Wizarding world is going to know that we're a couple."

"I can live with that," he promises.

"You don't mind, about the scaring?"

"Of course not."

Olly seems to relax then, almost as though she was waiting to get that all off her chest. James just looks at her feel so completely relieved that she's okay. He can take a little bit of scaring any day as long as she was alive and whole and healthy.

"I love you," he tells her warmly.

"I love you too."

Suddenly there is the noise of other feet coming into the ward and James and Olly glance apprehensively at the curtains.

"I think everyone else has arrived."

He was right as the Healer flung open the curtains to allow Olly's parents Kerr and Blaise, Teddy, Sage, Fred and Roxy to crowd around her bed. James just stood back watching Olly through the throng of people enquiring after her well-being and peering at the black fingers along her ribcage. He meets Teddy's eye over everyone else and mouths a silent "thank you". Teddy just smiles back.

"James."

Olly's voice catches her attention and he looks round to see she's reaching for him. James goes to her immediately smiling round at their friends, their family. He squeezes her hand as he takes it knowing exactly what she is going to do. He kind of wished his parents were here too, maybe Albus and Lily as well but he knows that it really doesn't matter because they were sure to appear in the next little while along with the rest of his enormous family. He just smiles when he realises the family relations was about to go up by one.

"James and I have something to tell you."

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><p><em>Well I hope it lives up to everyones expectations of what a JamesOlly fic should be and I hope you enjoyed it.<em>

_Please don't favourite without reviewing._

_Kerr x._


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